Rae ArdGaoth
Explorer
OOC: I am guilty of a minor miscalculation regarding time frames, but it's not absurd.
Let's solidify exactly where Sairundan is. In the world map (the one Phoenix linked to) there is a straight line that leads out from Orussus towards the Tower of Air. Extend that line just a little bit further, and that's where Sairundan is. It's about 3000 miles from Orussus if you walk that line. Keep in mind that this map is hugely out of proportion. (Somebody should take care of that, actually.) This is no walk through the park, we're talking a trek across the continent of America, half of which is through the desert.
On light horses with light loads, you can go 48 miles in a day (on a trade route/road), which means if you travel as much as possible every day, it's 62.5 days. Let's pretend your characters aren't mindless machines and assume that they don't want to trek non-stop for two months. We'll give them a day off every 10 days, meaning 72.5 days. Walking through the desert isn't as easy as the road, so let's tack on another 15 days, for 87.5. Round it up to 90 days, and we have a three month journey on our hands. So let's say that Hayder's letter took 3 months to arrive and he gives you 6 moons since the writing of the letter. (1 moon = approx. 1 month)
On Alternate Travel Methods:
Taking a ship is pointless: Sairundan is as far from the coast as it is from Orussus.
Plane Shift specifically says "From the Material Plane, you can reach any other plane" (emphasis mine), so you'd have to do a double jump, like to the Plane of Shadow or something. The highest level cleric in close proximity is the high priest of Hyrag in Orussus, he's level 9. He could create a scroll for 1,125gp and cast plane shift for 450gp, but he then needs to get back home himself (since he's teleporting you to a different place) and it's no small inconvenience for him to get plane shifted 500 miles from Orussus. Basically, unless you have a humongous donation to the church or you get a phenomenal diplomacy check (too bad you don't have Rinaldo!) I don't think he'll do it for you. I guess you could get the high priest to scribe the scroll and then pay a lesser priest to cast from the scroll, but then you run the risk of the lesser priest screwing up and everybody's stuck in the Plane of Shadow.
There's always the Wanderlust Inn! It's late, so I'll look into that as a possibility tomorrow. Does it run on a schedule?
Retconning on Page 1:
If you guys can figure something else out, go for it. Work out the costs amongst yourselves, keep in mind that your characters don't necessarily have the knowledge that L9 clerics have plane shift (heck, I'm the DM and I didn't even know that!) and pretend that the letter gives you 6 moons instead of 2 (I'll edit the post). If it turns out that travel costs will be much higher than I thought (I was indeed thinking around 500gp) then the Nimbusad wine, which was bottled at the edge of the world, would be worth a truly high sum, and thus I will change the amount that Joe paid Shadya.
Thanks for being good little analysts, folks! I apologize for not thinking this out carefully in advance.
To Knight Otu: I was going to request you specifically, your judgeship. I'm glad to have your insight and input.

Let's solidify exactly where Sairundan is. In the world map (the one Phoenix linked to) there is a straight line that leads out from Orussus towards the Tower of Air. Extend that line just a little bit further, and that's where Sairundan is. It's about 3000 miles from Orussus if you walk that line. Keep in mind that this map is hugely out of proportion. (Somebody should take care of that, actually.) This is no walk through the park, we're talking a trek across the continent of America, half of which is through the desert.
On light horses with light loads, you can go 48 miles in a day (on a trade route/road), which means if you travel as much as possible every day, it's 62.5 days. Let's pretend your characters aren't mindless machines and assume that they don't want to trek non-stop for two months. We'll give them a day off every 10 days, meaning 72.5 days. Walking through the desert isn't as easy as the road, so let's tack on another 15 days, for 87.5. Round it up to 90 days, and we have a three month journey on our hands. So let's say that Hayder's letter took 3 months to arrive and he gives you 6 moons since the writing of the letter. (1 moon = approx. 1 month)
On Alternate Travel Methods:
Taking a ship is pointless: Sairundan is as far from the coast as it is from Orussus.
Plane Shift specifically says "From the Material Plane, you can reach any other plane" (emphasis mine), so you'd have to do a double jump, like to the Plane of Shadow or something. The highest level cleric in close proximity is the high priest of Hyrag in Orussus, he's level 9. He could create a scroll for 1,125gp and cast plane shift for 450gp, but he then needs to get back home himself (since he's teleporting you to a different place) and it's no small inconvenience for him to get plane shifted 500 miles from Orussus. Basically, unless you have a humongous donation to the church or you get a phenomenal diplomacy check (too bad you don't have Rinaldo!) I don't think he'll do it for you. I guess you could get the high priest to scribe the scroll and then pay a lesser priest to cast from the scroll, but then you run the risk of the lesser priest screwing up and everybody's stuck in the Plane of Shadow.
There's always the Wanderlust Inn! It's late, so I'll look into that as a possibility tomorrow. Does it run on a schedule?
Retconning on Page 1:
If you guys can figure something else out, go for it. Work out the costs amongst yourselves, keep in mind that your characters don't necessarily have the knowledge that L9 clerics have plane shift (heck, I'm the DM and I didn't even know that!) and pretend that the letter gives you 6 moons instead of 2 (I'll edit the post). If it turns out that travel costs will be much higher than I thought (I was indeed thinking around 500gp) then the Nimbusad wine, which was bottled at the edge of the world, would be worth a truly high sum, and thus I will change the amount that Joe paid Shadya.
Thanks for being good little analysts, folks! I apologize for not thinking this out carefully in advance.
To Knight Otu: I was going to request you specifically, your judgeship. I'm glad to have your insight and input.